Due to interest in nuclear themes sparked by Stanley Kramer's film version of On the Beach in 1959, the film rights to Red Alert were sold that year, only to be handed around until Stanley Kubrick bought them in 1962, reportedly for as little as $3,500.

Peter George in fact wrote the screenplay for the film (in collaboration with Kubrick and Terry Southern), and was displeased with the overall satirical feel of the movie. After the film was released, he wrote a novelization of the screenplay, Dr. Strangelove, and dedicated it to the director.

George later wrote another novel to denounce the use of nuclear weapons, entitled Commander-1. He died in 1966 when he was working on his next novel, Nuclear Survivors.